KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The Nationals' weak offensive numbers so far this spring are probably a product of the lack of regulars getting playing time than anything, but that's going to change soon. Beginning Sunday, manager Davey Johnson plans to start using all his regulars for most of the remainder of camp.

Several of those guys actually made the trip today to Kissimmee to face the Astros, including Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa, Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth. They'll be going up against Houston No. 2 starter Bud Norris. (FYI: Livan Hernandez is expected to open the season as the Astros' No. 3 man.)

Jordan Zimmermann takes the mound for the Nationals on the heels of a strong, four-scoreless-inning start against the Marlins. Johnson will hope to get five innings out of the young right-hander today, at which point he'll turn the game over to relievers Craig Stammen, Tyler Clippard and Brad Lidge.

Yeesh, I start to read one post and two more pop up! I wanted to respond to an earlier post regarding the lack of offense and the continuing bashing of Desmond. Do I think Desi is the long-term answer at short or leading off? No, of course not. But do I think that Desi has taken to heart everything that Davey has been teaching him since Davey took over last year? Absotively! Just look at how Desi ended the season last year with DJ at the helm. Pre All-Star:.223 / .264 / .308 with 17 BB and 83 SO in 81 GSPost All-Star:.289 / .338 / .417 with 18 BB and 56 SO in 65 GSHis walks were up, his strikeouts were down and he was getting more hits with DJ at the helm.Now with this season's ST, Desi started off poorly in his first couple of games (0-9 with 3 SO's). It was reported that he had tinkered with his swing during the off-season and DJ and crew let him try it out at first and once they realized that his new approach stunk, they worked with him on getting back to what was working. Now, since that bad start, he's starting to come back aroundOverall ST:.268 / .302 / .366 with 2 BB and 11 SO in 41 ABTake away those first couple of games when he was using the bad approach, and here's what he's done since:.344 / .382 / .469 with 2 BB and 8 SO in 32 ABLooks to me that Desi is doing everything that you'd want a ballplayer to do during spring training. Start off cold, maybe because of a new approach, then listen to your coaches and fix whatever the problem is and finish the spring on a roll.The $1,000,000 question of course is can he sustain this for most of the regular season?? I dunno, but if anyone can straighten him out and make Desi a more consistent player it's Davey.Just my two cents.

Desmond and Espinosa both have to know their jobs are on the line. With Lombardozzi, Rendon, AND former 2nd round pick Kobernus very close? Espinosa has the advantage of a platoon power bat, range and an almost flawless glove. Desmond has the better range if not glove. So, as Ladson would put it the Nats do have options for MI and lead-off and its why Davey isn't worried.BUT, middle of the order bats? Especially a left-handed or even a platoon bat? They are in deep trouble there because the depth in the minors outside of Tyler Moore just isn't there. Nady might help but no one knows. I expect both Werth and LaRoche to continue their mid-30's decline. Then its down to Zim and Morse. Can Ramos step up as he did toward the end last year? Is Flores a bat that needs to be in the lineup regularly? Can Espinosa improve his ISO and OBP? Too many ifs.

I don't think there would be near the excitement and praise without the luck of getting Harper, Stras, and Rendon in the draft.Luck Erik? How did Rizzo and the FO get into the position to draft these players? Throw in Meyer and Purke? Purke looks like a steal right now? You aren't looking at the minors either, clearly. Player development has improved dramatically. A guy named Jeff Kobernus stole over 50 bases in Potomac last year. Do you know who he is? And all of those prospects traded for Gio were really developed (oh and what about AJ Cole Erik? No one thought Rizzo could sign him and Robbie Ray given their slots? But Rizzo convinced the owners to pay way over slot?) Erik its not just Rizzo its who he hired. If you criticize what Rizzo has done then you have to criticize Roy Clark a guy who helped build the Atlanta farm system through their drafts. If there are any problems they are with the ownership and its steering committee which often blocks the FO from making moves, such as trading Dunn. And I suspect they may be responsible for Jayson Werth … far more than Rizzo. He just doesn't fit the Rizzo/Clark model. But Boras sold a bill of goods to the owners so …

Well, that's what happens when you walk guys who aren't hitting their weight. Bogusevic is hitting about <.150, but worked a walk, stole second, and advanced on two fly balls to give the 'Stros the lead.

I hesitate to bring it up, but Desmond fouled a ball into the dugout, off Zimmerman's leg, as Ryan waited to hit, in the hole. I guess he'll get an MRI, a shot for tetanus, and a malaria net. Just to be safe.

Anon 1:08,When 1 or 2 games out of 162 determine whether you get Harper and Strasburg in the draft, or neither, yes I do think it is luck. Like I said before in the other post, I wouldn't trade Rizzo for most any other GM in the league. He has put together a great scouting department, starting with his own abilities as a scout. However, I am hoping his best days are ahead of him and not the other way around. Paying 3x over slot for Purke, Ray and Cole to me is not some great GM move. Cheating the system, and I don't even know if you can call it that, is a pretty easy way to sign people like those listed above. Not much skill involved in that. The minor league system has shown drastic improvement, as has player development, but that system is still being carried by a few top prospects. Still needs more depth. Hopefully some of the players picked in the latter rounds by this new scouting department will develop the way Millone and Peacock did. Kobernus is definitely a good sign of that development, however, I am willing to bet that most organizations have guys like Kobernus. The key is to have about 10 of them. Like I said, I am completely on board with Rizzo and Co. Just playing devil's advocate with some past decisions because this team really doesn't seem ready for a playoff run.

Speaking of injuries, I'm day to day with a bad back.Seriously, I'm not kidding at all. I woke up and could barely make it to the car. I must have slept wrong last night or something. I'm only in my mid-30s! No joke, my back really hurts right now

Okay, got the ether radio on and have read Mark's updates and the comments. Guess I'm ready to come off the bench, coach. Wait, better take a few warmup hacks. There. Okay, I'm good to go.Hey, their audio production guy is making with the musical allusions. Nice.

Erik- You mention mostly minor league guys, but fail to mention the Nats potent ML pitching.That, and possibly that alone, will get the Nats into the playoff hunt this year.Obviously base running, fielding, and luck will play a factor as well.However, I'm still inclined to a 87-75 record this year. Dominant in 2013, though. We'll see what happens.

Stras and Harper were certainly luck. Luck to be the worst team back to back and luck to have those kind of once in a generation talents available there each time. Rendon falling to 6th was also some luck. What was skill and will was Purke, in particular.

CWJ,Say the Nats have the 5th best pitching staff in baseball this year(which will be no easy task considering the other staffs around baseball). If they have the 26th best offense again, how will they possibly win 87 games??? Not going to happen in the NL East. If they only had 1 or 2 more hitters in that lineup, with all of the close games they are likely to play, what a difference it would make. An extra run a game would probably equal about 10 extra wins on this team.

Upon reflection, I believe that would be no-hitteritis.Cease the Opportunity said… Is there such a thing as hittersitis or scorelessitis? With all the great pitching it will be difficult to win games: 0-2, 0-1, etc… March 23, 2012 2:09 PM

Does it by any chance taste great?Cease the Opportunity said… I'm thinking about a product that you push when all calm is lost and total chaos rains cats and dogs. Two words, usually red. What is it? March 23, 2012 2:27 PM

Erik- But I am not expecting the offense to be as bad as last year.For this season: #3 pitching (NL). #11 hitting (NL). And lets say average defense.87-75 is my ceiling. But I do not see them as a sub .500 team unless the entire pitching staff is injured in a plane crash.:-)

As we're being no-hit through 6 innings, it's so nice to be able to visit my friends at NI, and be reassured that Spring Training doesn't mean anything, and that our offense will come around when all are regulars are in there.It's just so comforting to read these nice things.

Natcho- It means nothing…repeat that phrase and wait for opening day of the real season :-)By Zeus, unless you are fighting for a job ST games do not mean anything. Babe Ruth was partying in Cuba during March. Roy Oswalt has skipped it altogether.

Does anyone think Desmond and Espinosa will ever become good hitters? I can't see it. And they strike out way too frequently. The bench players the Nats signed over the winter—Carroll and Co.— are horrible.

You Must be a baseball Player———————————– Cwj said… Speaking of injuries, I'm day to day with a bad back.Seriously, I'm not kidding at all. I woke up and could barely make it to the car. I must have slept wrong last night or something. I'm only in my mid-30s! No joke, my back really hurts right now

I wonder how many people on this board believe the Nats FO is as sanguine about our offense as NI posters are. In public it's all DJ's reassurance and who cares about ST…but I guarantee you the FO is deadly worried about the problem of our offense. I bet they are more worried, in fact, than any NI poster on the topic.

Yep, nothing worse than losing a practice game (sarcasm).We go through all of this every spring. Fans of other teams do as well.Cheer up! Opening day is not far off.Strasburg will dominate the Cubs lineup.

Who will be this year's Stairs among Carroll, Tracy, Blanco, and Michaels?I understand sending Harper down for financial reasons and for his development, but I guarantee he would hit better than these clowns. So he slumped after being injured, but he was just about to get going based on his typical pattern of slow starts. If the offense sucks this bad come the begginning of May, we better see Haper over Ankiel or Bernadina.

In public it's all DJ's reassurance and who cares about ST…but I guarantee you the FO is deadly worried about the problem of our offense. I bet they are more worried, in fact, than any NI poster on the topic.I tend to agree with you, which is why DJ's reassurances are so annoying. Don't treat us like idiots. It's like, who do you believe, DJ or your lying eyes? I actually don't care a whit about ST games. The most important thing is our pitchers getting stretched out and ready. Nonetheless, 3 hits and 10 Ks against a mediocre group of Astros pitchers is pretty pathetic.

Trying to think of something to say.Oh yeah, if anyone lives near the WV panhandle and isn't afraid of driving up mountainous terrain, I'll be having an opening day cookout.Burgers and Brats.Everyone is invited

I don't know if Stammen really will be the victim of the numbers game. He's impressed this spring and has performed better than Mattheus and Perry. He's certainly performed leaps and bounds above Gorzelanny, who I'm hoping they'll designate for assignment.

WOOHOO!!!! I was Greatly Bummed, over not being able to make it to Duffys, but now there's a genuine, imaginary friend within a half hour, with whom i can count Ks with, as Stras mows domn those poor Cubbies….Thanks, cwj!!!